Safety Committee voting on 'Red Flag' gun control legislation

Friday

Students, teachers and parents – among others – have visited the State House for weeks, calling for passage of a bill intended to keep guns away from dangerous individuals.

On Friday afternoon, the Legislature's Committee on Public Safety should finally have an answer for them about the extreme risk protection order bill.

The committee – chaired by Rep. Hank Naughton and Sen. Michael Moore – is polling members on a bill (H 3610) that is substantially similar to the version filed by Cambridge Democrat Rep. Marjorie Decker. The poll was supposed to close at 3:30 p.m., according to legislative aides.

Both Naughton and Moore recommended colleagues vote in favor of the bill, according to an aide. Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Harriette Chandler largely control what comes to the floor of their chambers. A recent WBUR poll of Bay State voters conducted by the MassINC Polling Group found 69 percent believe protecting people from gun violence should be the most important thing to lawmakers weighing gun legislation.

"I haven't seen this much support across the nation for effective gun laws like the ERPO bill ever," said John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence, who has advocated for gun laws for decades.

The Gun Owners Action League, an affiliate of the National Rifle Association, opposes the bill, which is popular with those who mobilized for tougher gun laws following the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Under the legislation, a family member, roommate or law enforcement official could petition the court to bar someone from owning a firearm if their gun ownership presents a "significant danger of causing personal injury to self or others."

"It is extraordinarily cruel for the law to treat a person who is suicidal or depressed in the same manner as a potential mass murderer," GOAL said in a statement shared with the News Service last month. "Then deprive them of their civil rights and then send them back into society with no help or structured support system – but that is what these bills do."

Last month, Moore told the News Service he thinks the bill covers "the core issue that we've got to try to address." The Millbury Democrat who generally favors gun rights also said he wanted to ensure the legislation would not deter people from seeking help.

The timing of the committee's poll, which ends on Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, was not a surprise. The House and Senate earlier extended the deadline for the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security to issue a report on the bill, giving the committee until Sunday, April 15.

Calling the bill a "really effective piece of legislation that will save lives from preventable gun violence and suicide and mass shootings," Rosenthal believes it will become law.

"I believe they'll have votes in the House and the Senate for passage," Rosenthal told the News Service. He said, "I believe this governor will sign it."